The Offshore Storage Installation is a
barge
A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...
which is permanently anchored in
Liverpool Bay
Liverpool Bay is a bay of the Irish Sea between northeast Wales, Cheshire, Lancashire and Merseyside to the east of the Irish Sea. The bay is a classic example of a region of freshwater influence. Liverpool Bay has historically suffered from redu ...
, England, and receives oil from the
Douglas Complex
The Douglas Complex is a high system of three linked platforms in the Irish Sea, off the North Wales coast. The Douglas oil field was discovered in 1990, and production commenced in 1996. Now operated by Eni, the complex consists of the well ...
of
oil platform
An oil platform (also called an oil rig, offshore platform, oil production platform, etc.) is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platforms w ...
s in the
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...
by way of pipelines under the sea. The facility thus serves as a floating oil terminal, and is capable of holding 870,000 barrels of oil, which can then be transferred to tanker vessels as necessary. The OSI is double-skinned, and is protected by an 800-metre
exclusion zone
An exclusion zone is a geographic area in which specific activities are prohibited by an authority. The United States Department of Defense defines an exclusion zone is a territory where an authority prohibits specific activities in a specific g ...
, which is monitored 24 hours a day by
radar
Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
and a high-powered patrol vessel.
The facility is crewed by a complement of 14, consisting of operators and technicians, plus two catering personnel and an
Offshore Installation Manager
The offshore installation manager (OIM) is the most senior manager of an offshore platform operating on the UK Continental Shelf.
Many offshore operators have adopted this UK offshore management model and title and applied it to their operations i ...
(OIM).
A system mounted in the OSI's mooring
buoy
A buoy (; ) is a buoyancy, floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents.
History
The ultimate origin of buoys is unknown, but by 1295 a seaman's manual referred to navig ...
monitors the integrity of the installation's nine anchoring cables.
See also
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List of oil fields
This list of oil fields includes some Giant oil and gas fields, major oil fields of the past and present.
The list is incomplete; there are more than 25,000 petroleum, oil and natural gas, gas Petroleum reservoir#gas field, fields of all sizes i ...
*
Geology of England
The geology of England is mainly sedimentary. The youngest rocks are in the south east around London, progressing in age in a north westerly direction.
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Oil platform
An oil platform (also called an oil rig, offshore platform, oil production platform, etc.) is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platforms w ...
References
External links
Liverpool Bay on AIS Liverpool
Oil platforms off England
Oil fields of England
Liverpool
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